Thursday, June 25, 2009

There must've been something in the air today, or maybe the veil was thin, but whatever it was three great people left today.

The first I heard about was Farrah Fawcett, she of Charlie's Angels fame. She was afflicted with anal cancer and has struggled the past couple years. She was very beautiful and in recent times I've heard that it wasn't just because of her outward appearance. Apparently she was very giving in nature and did a lot of things through her life for others in need that never went mentioned, until now. My only connection with Farrah, other than the fact that I was born the year Charlie's Angels premiered, is that she was on I Dream of Jeannie twice as Major Healey's girlfriend.

The next person I heard to finish their Earthly mission was quite shocking and that was the King of Pop, Michael Jackson! Only 50 years old and was in the midst of preparing for his last concert. Now granted, Michael was very strange, and possibly even creepy, but there is no denying that he left a legacy of music, dance and performing that may never be topped. All though I was only about 6 or 7 when "Thriller" was released, I remember it quite well. My aunt Evelyn had the record and I would listen to it at her house with her kids and we would dance and dance. I remember seeing the music video of the title track and being scared spitless but also quite intrigued at the pure magic of the moves. That Easter my brother got the tape and we listened to it so much I'm sure it broke. We LOVED Michael Jackson! Everyone did and so it was very hard to hear of his death.

But the one that had the most effect on me was one that most likely won't hit the news and that is of 6 year old Sadie Huish. She is the niece of one of my good friend's and only just last year was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer. Her parents decided to blog about their daughter and her struggles with this puzzling and frustrating illness. I became aware of Sadie's struggle when there was a piece about her meeting with President Thomas S. Monson of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and it was then that I looked up her blog. The faith and perseverance of Sadie and her parents was remarkable! I couldn't believe that through something so terrible they still had happy moments and kept believing. I suppose I can believe it because that's all one can do, is just know that Jesus is there to support, that these trials are for our good and that a greater life than we could dream of is waiting for us at the end. And now Sadie has returned to her Father-in-Heaven leaving the rest of us to strive to bring our faith to even a fraction of what hers was.

I'm sad, but comforted, knowing that all three people, though not in their bodies for the time being, are still around and do not have to suffer any longer. They are with loved ones and are more happy now than ever before.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

So it turns out that my happy place is the sound of a train blowing it's horn! I didn't know this until yesterday and I'll explain why.

There is a train track that runs near my brother's house and while I was there playing Nertz (family favorite card game) we heard the train signaling that it was approaching. It doesn't seem like I've heard that sound in quite some time, like a REALLY long time! But it has always reminded me of being down to Grandma Pierce's house or over at my cousin's house sleeping over when I was younger. Those were great times even though we were in Wellington, a small sleepy town in central Eastern Utah where there is nothing to do but listen to trains and sleep over. I remember hearing the trains and wondering where they were going to. I also always thought of how it's quite possible that the same bellowing sound of the train was something that was heard over a 100 years ago and that it's something that hasn't ever changed and in fact, was somewhat of a link to the past.

Anyway, when I heard it yesterday I immediately felt that sense of peace and happiness that I had when I was younger and there wasn't really much to worry about except when the next round of fun was going to come around.

It was even sweeter still that when I got home yesterday that I heard the train again on the tracks that run about two miles from my house as though it were saying, "Those were good times and you know? There are still more to be had."

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Today I went to tour the new facilities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints History Museum. I had a two-fold reason: 1) I really wanted to see what kind of stuff they have in the archives and 2) my brother Pibby works there so I wanted to see where he worked.

It was a very interesting tour, the most fascinating part for me being the archival of audio recordings. The demonstrator at that point of the tour works in that department and showed us how he can take a horrible, crackly old recording and make it sound brand new! It was awesome! He also showed us how in the late 19th to early 20th century there was a device used to make recordings on wire. Did you know this? I certainly didn't. On a thin wire like what you would fish with, maybe a bit thicker, people back in the day would make recordings! I didn't have a chance to ask Demonstrator how this was possible because there were too many people there. I am going to research though cause that's crazy!

Anyway, he played a couple examples of recordings he had of various Prophets of the Church, the earliest being from Wilford Woodruff in, I believe, 1897 that was recorded onto a wax cylinder. He also played the testimony of President Gordon B Hinckley's father that was from a wire recording and he most definitely was in that same time period as Wilford Woodruff. The marvelous part about it was hearing the testimony of these individuals, far removed from my time, but with the same testimony that I have, and that was that God lives and that his Son, Jesus Christ, is the Savior of the World.

The recordings played were no more than 20 seconds long, if that, but it made me marvel at how these men used these crude recording devices to share what they know to be true and how I have such an array of easy ways to share my testimony in a crystal clear fashion, whether by a digital recording, whether audio or visual or both, or simply typing it out.

So, like those men of yesteryear I'm going to share in about 20 seconds, really less, what I know to be true. I want all two readers of my blog to know that I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he is my Savior and yours. I also know that Joseph Smith, Jr restored the Church of Jesus Christ to the Earth and that in addition to the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon witnesses of the divinity of Jesus. In His Name, amen.